A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz, Russell’s
third book, was first published in 1900, and reprinted
unchanged in 1937 with a new Preface; it is his only fullscale
study of an important historical figure. Indeed, aside
from A History of Western Philosophy (1945), he wrote very
little on the history of philosophy. Many of his essays, of
course, include discussions of the views of earlier philosophers,
usually of a critical nature and designed to advance
the argument in favour of his own view. He also reviewed
several books in the history of philosophy, but it is fair to
say that his forte lay not in the history of his subject but
rather in advancing fresh views on both new and traditional
philosophical problems. The Leibniz book, however, is an
exception to this general remark, since it is a proper historical
study, and it argues for an original interpretation
of Leibniz’s philosophy.